A Broken Key
by tiny-phoenix
Summary: A young woman is about to become an important part of a quest to save the world from Loki's domination, although she may be more trouble than help on a team which is already a tidal wave of a mess.
1. Chapter 1

I sat on the couch with my shoulders drooped, my hands clutching each other, and a sad frown unchanging on my face. The television reporter droned on but she didn't seem all that remorseful. She probably wasn't a big comic book person. My mother yelled something from the kitchen to me but I didn't catch what she said. On the screen, images flashed. There was the cover for the first Captain America. There was Thor. Spider-man, X-Men, the Hulk, Iron Man, they all flashed past as the woman spoke about the extreme success of all of these names. My mother shouted again, something about if I was hungry. I nodded my head, although she couldn't see me, but I guess she got the hint when I didn't respond again. This reporter's voice was beginning to annoy me.

"_If you are just joining us, we have just been informed of the tragic passing of one of history's greatest writers and comic book geniuses, Stan Lee. Lee passed hours ago in his home…"_

I sighed and clicked off the television. I really couldn't tolerate her voice anymore. I knew she was supposed to deliver the news in an unbiased and objective way, but could she show some emotion! I got up from the couch and dragged my feet to my room, shutting the door behind me and throwing myself onto the bed. I grunted in pain as my face landed on the edge of a book, slicing it with a miniscule cut. I was about to swipe the book off of the bed when I saw what it was. One of my Captain Americas. I picked it up and placed it neatly on the floor, in one of the piles of comics that I had made there. Looking around my room, I thought, _Well I'll probably be treating these with a little more respect now_. There were thin comic books strewn all over the place. On the chair, on the floor, on the desk, in the closet. _I need to get a filing box or something._ I snorted. _Or a specialized room._

I had not even the slightest clue why I was feeling so melancholy. Sure, Stan Lee was gone, the genius man who had brought me so many of the things that I loved. Sure, it was tragic. But I felt like I had lost someone close to me, like family-close. I groaned. _I get too attached to people I don't even know_, I thought. I wasn't crying, but I felt exhausted and my eyes hurt like I had been. Chalking it up to being tired from doing absolutely nothing all day, I put my head down and shut my eyes.

* * *

"What does she know?"

"Not a thing. At least that's what we're told and that's how we're going to have to treat it."

"We've kept her on the radar for 18 years?"

"We've watched people for far longer."

The huge, black SUV drove smoothly along the highway. The license plates were not recognizable from any state or federal agency that had ever been seen before. One of the windows went down slightly.

"Hey. We're trying to keep a low profile for now, remember?"

"What, they're going to see the top of my head and immediately know what's going down? Calm down, Hill. It's too hot in here, anyway."

The brown-haired woman driving the car turned her head to scowl at the man sitting in the passenger's seat. He raised an eyebrow. "And if we're talking about keeping a low profile, how about you keep your eyes on the road so you don't cause a wreck." He turned his head back to look out the window. "That's kind of high-profile," he added, muttering.

The woman, Hill, turned her head back to the road. "Fine, it's just that this makes me nervous. Approaching something like this. It could go any way possible and some of those possibilities are not very good."

Before the man could answer, a voice piped up from the back seat. A red-haired woman leaned forward, sticking her face through the space of the seats. "If she wanted to cause trouble, she would have done it already. It's not like she didn't have the firepower. She's been quiet for nearly 20 years. If she knows nothing, it's not like she's waiting for us to pop up before she deals some damage."

The man in the passenger's seat nodded quickly, agreeing.

"Fine, it still makes me nervous. It _should_ make you nervous, too, Coulson," Hill said, taking her eyes off of the road once more to shoot a look at the man sitting next to her. "I know you think this is a bit suspicious too, even though you have the emotional range of a rock."

"If this part of the job makes you nervous, hell, if the job _itself_ makes you nervous, then I have to say that you have made some very poor career decisions. Take a hint from Agent Romanoff. Relax. She's probably more worried about whether or not it's going to rain and you should be too. Right?"

The woman in the back seat shrugged, her short flaming hair bobbing up and down. "Eh."


	2. Chapter 2

There was a knock at the door. I lifted my head from the pillow and grunted, which meant that entry was allowed. The door opened slightly and Steven poked his head in. He stared down at the wood floor and said, "There's someone at the door for you," so quietly that if I wasn't used to listening so closely in order to hear what he said all the time, I would have assumed that he had said nothing. I rolled off of the bed, my limbs heavy with exhaustion. _Why am I so tired?_ It had been a week and I still felt tired and sad. I looked down at Steven. _I'm probably not setting such a good example by staying in bed all day_. I walked to the door and opened it all the way, making the small boy take a step back, eyes still trained on the ground. I reached a hand down and tapped his chin, making him look up at me.

"Come on now, head up, you know what I told you. You want to be brave, right?"

He looked up and smiled just a little bit, nodding.

"So, who's at the door?"

Steven shrugged. "I don't know. He just asked for you. He was nice."

"He?"

"There are more, two girls too."

_I don't have anyone coming_. I hadn't had any friends over to the house all week and I certainly hadn't been speaking to anyone all week due to my mystery lethargy. I sighed. "Come on, Steve, I told you to get me first if someone knocked."

"I know, but one of the girls looks like Black Widow. She was nice, too. So I opened the door."

I grinned. I loved showing that kid comic books, quizzing him on the real names of superheroes and what their powers were. He soaked it up like a sponge. "Fine," I said, walking past him and towards the stairs. "I'll go talk to Black Widow. And what's her real name?"

Steven smiled a little wider. "Natasha," he piped up.

"Good."

At the bottom of the stairs, I paused to listen. I could tell that people were standing at the front door. I stood there for a bit before a woman's voice finally said, "Do you think she's making a run for it?"

A man's voice answered her, sounding a little bored. "No. The others would have seen her, the whole place has eyes."

_What is this?_ I asked myself. I stepped off of the staircase and into the hallway, making myself visible to the people at the end of the hall. A man stood at the front of the group, in a crisp and clean suit. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and he looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. He stood with his hands to his side and an apathetic look on his face. He didn't look threatening but definitely not overly friendly. He met my eyes the second I stepped off of the stairs. "Hello," he said. "You are Kyrne, aren't you?"

I took a step forward, down the hall. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can." He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a badge, flashing it in my direction. "We just need to speak to you for a bit."

From where I stood, I couldn't see exactly what the badge said, but it looked official. And who wasted their time making fake federal badges, anyway? "Speak to me about what?"

A woman stepped out from behind the man. She, too, had brown hair, pulled up tightly into a neat, flawless bun. She wore a tight pantsuit and like the man, she pulled out a badge and held it out to me. I stepped even closer to the front door, still a little bit cautious but not nearly as much as I had been before. If these people were FBI or something, I certainly didn't want to make them think I was doing anything wrong. _What do they want with me, though?_ "Kyrne? Is it alright if we come inside?"

"Ah.. my mother's not home and I don't really think she would appreciate it if I just let you guys inside like this."

"We'll try to be as quick as possible," said the man. "It is very important, we assure you."

I could hear Steven's light footsteps creaking down the stairs and I looked behind me just in time to catch his head peeking out from in between the stair railing. He looked curious, above all. _It beats him being nervous_. I looked back at the group. "Fine. If it's just for a little bit. Here, we can go into the living room."

The man stepped inside the house, breathing deeply. I knew the house smelled like cinnamon. My mother loved the smell, it made her feel like the house was always warm, she said. The man nodded. "Beautiful home." He looked down at me. "My name is Agent Coulson." He proceeded to the left and into the living room, where he sat down on the couch. The brown-haired and neat woman came next.

"Agent Hill," she said quickly, looking up at the staircase and down the hallway as if she was scoping out snipers. I blinked a couple of times. _Agent Coulson and Agent Hill_. _What a coincidence_. I shook my head a few times, very quickly. That was _really_ a coincidence. I wonder if they got put on the same team on purpose. Someone in their agency must be a comic fan if he arranged this.

I turned back to the door and saw one last woman standing there, whom I hadn't seen before. She had stood behind the other two agents. I had to shake my head again. She had deep red hair, short and curly, green eyes, and an eerie gaze. That one had to be the one that my brother had called Black Widow. She smiled. "Hello."

"H-hello," I stuttered out, still mesmerized by the creepy resemblance. "Would you like to come in, too?" I could hear Steven stretching himself out further to get a better look at the woman.

She stepped inside. "Agent Romanoff," she said in a silky voice, walking past to join the other two. I could hear a loud thump as my brother caught himself, nearly falling off of the railing. He gasped, his brown eyes wide and staring. He hopped up and ran down the stairs, bumping into me as he sped down the hallway. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down, whispering.

"Did you hear what she said, Kyrne? She said Romanoff! I told you she was Black Widow! You said her real name was Natasha Romanoff! I remember, that's what you told me! She said her name is Romanoff! She really _is_ Black Widow!"

Even I had to admit, it was creepy. I had three people named Coulson, Hill, and Romanoff sitting in my living room from some federal agency that I wasn't even sure of. Someone in D.C. had a sense of humor, they really did. "Yeah.. Uh, Steve, why don't you bring some water for them, okay? Don't carry all of the glasses at once." Before I even finished my sentence, Steven was off, darting through the living room and into the kitchen.

I walked into the living room. "I'm sorry,I must have missed what you said, _what_ agency are you guys from?"

Agent Coulson spoke up. "S.H.I.E.L.D.," he said shortly, going back to looking around the living room. I stared for at least a half a minute. _What did he just say? I'm sorry, what?_

"Sorry, what?"

He looked me in the eye. "S.H.I.E.L.D." I nodded slowly. _Oh my God these people are crazy. I need them out of the house. They're going to try to hurt me or Steve, I know it._

"Uh, I'm sorry, I think you need to go. I just remembered, I need to bring my brother to.. soccer practice, and we are _really_ late. I'm so sorry, can we do this another time?"

Hill and Coulson exchanged glances, then Coulson stood up. "No, this time is imperative. Besides, Steven doesn't play soccer."

I froze. My blood ran cold and my eyes went wide. _How did he know that_? Steve came out of the kitchen, balancing three glasses of water in his arms. "Go back into the kitchen." He looked at me and cocked his head to the side, confused. "Steven, go back into the kitchen." He still didn't move. "NOW, Steven!" Finally he looked around and backed up, the kitchen door swinging shut behind him.

Romanoff spoke softly, making eye contact with me. "There's no reason to alarm him, he doesn't understand what's going on."

"Neither does she," said Agent Hill, looking fed up. "I knew there had to be a better way to do this."

"I'm not stupid," I said, moving towards the phone, hoping that the three people wouldn't notice. "If you're going to impersonate the police, don't pick names like that. I'm not an idiot."

Coulson tilted his head to the side and smiled very, very slightly. "You uh, you read comic books, don't you? Marvel?"

I nodded, stepping a tad bit closer to the wall. "Of course you do!" he said loudly. "Of course she does," he said to Agent Hill. "Well I guess that makes this easier, doesn't it?"

"Easier? How? I know you're not real feds. There's no way. Who are you?"

"Kyrne, we know how this sounds, but we are from S.H.I.E.L.D. Our names are real," said Agent Romanoff. "We are so sorry if we're scaring you but we need you to listen very closely. Please sit down."

I was so close to the phone. Just a couple more small steps and I would be right next to the table and from there, it would be easy. I took another step. "What about you? _Romanoff_? Sort of obvious. Like I said, I'm not an idiot. Even if I didn't read comic books, I would still be able to recognize that. Do all of you dress up to look like your 'characters'? Or is it the other way around? You pick whatever character you happen to look like?" _Just keep stalling_, I thought. _Distract them so they won't see you going for the phone_. My hand brushed the table and my heart skipped a beat. All I had to do was make a quick grab for the phone and I would be dialing 911 before these three could do anything about it. Even if they took the phone, it would have still dialed already.

"We disconnected the phone lines," said Coulson glibly. He hadn't even been looking at me. He was facing the front window, looking out over the lawn and examining the tree that was in out front yard. "And the internet." I quickly snatched up the phone and held it to my ear, expecting to hear the sound of the dial tone. Instead, I was met with eerie and hope-killing silence. I set the phone back down and immediately when in my pocket. As soon as my hand touched the cell phone, Coulson said, "That won't work, either."

I just stood there, my mouth a little agape. _What do I do now_? I couldn't just run out the front door and make a break for it, not with Steven still holed up in the kitchen. Agent Hill motioned to the couch with her head. "Come on, Kyrne, the sooner we can explain what's going on, the sooner you and your brother can go back to your normal day."

A flash of fury went through me, one that I had honestly never felt before. "_Normal_? I'm being held hostage by three fake federal agents in my own house! How do you just go back to normal after that? 'Oh, sorry about that, have a nice day?' No! And besides," I hissed, my eyes narrowing, "if you _are_ from S.H.I.E.L.D.," I paused to look each of them in the eye in turn, "which I highly doubt, then my life will _definitely_ not be normal, even if you people leave! Like I said, _I am not an idiot_! I know what you people do, no one's life is ever normal after you're done interfering." I shook my head quickly. _What am I doing_? I was starting to talk to these people like they were actually from S.H.I.E.L.D. I needed to get rid of them before I went just as crazy as they did. I had to admit, though, I nearly felt guilty for using such a harsh tone. Sure, they were holding me as a prisoner in my own living room, but they hadn't been mean to me or Steven. I blinked a few times. To be honest, I had never gotten that angry that quickly before. It was gone just as quickly as it had come over me.

It was completely silent. Agent Coulson turned to face me from the window and raised an eyebrow. He exchanged a look with Agent Hill and finally, after a minute, Agent Romanoff chuckled. She smiled up at me from the couch. "Well, no one can say that you're stupid." Agent Hill snorted. "What? She's not wrong. When has anyone's life gone as planned when we're finished with it?" Hill had just opened her mouth to reply when I heard the keys in the front door and my heart leapt. My mother was home. I wished that I had some way to warn her not to come into the house because then _she_ would be held hostage, too. Oh, well, it was too late for discretion, I suppose.

"MOM! DON'T COME IN, RUN!"

Steven came bursting out of the kitchen, looking around the room wildly. "MOM? RUN? WE RUN?" I tried to jump at him to shove him back into the kitchen but he didn't even see me. God, that kid was quick. Probably because he was so damn small. He darted right around me and made a break before the door, and I have to say, he would have made it! He would have made it if it had not been for Agent Hill rolling off of the couch and catching him around the waist. She lifted him off of the ground and I felt that surge of anger come through me again. I reached for the woman with a loud growl and tried to rip her hands off of my brother.

"STEVEN, KICK HER, KICK HER!" I yelled, right before I was grabbed from behind and restrained by Romanoff. She twisted my arms behind my back and held them there, making me wince.

"Come on now, Kyrne.. We don't want to hurt you but if you lose control, we're not going to have a choice," she murmured. Steven was kicking and screaming to get away from Hill and I couldn't be more proud of the kid.

Finally, my mother got the front door open and stumbled onto the scene. Before I could even scream for her to make a run for it, her eyes fell on Agent Coulson, still standing casually by the window. He hadn't even batted an eyelash when Steve made a dash for the door. A little smile came over him when my mother saw him. "Kyrne, what- Oh! Oh, Phil! What.." She looked around the rest of the room and saw (and heard, no doubt) Steven's futile battle with Agent Hill and me being held back by Romanoff. "Oh, no, Phil, is it..?"

"That it is, Susan."

I struggled against Romanoff's grip, although it hurt. "Mom? You _know_ him?"

She didn't answer me but her eyes met mine and they were filled with a horrible sadness.


	3. Chapter 3

"_What? You lied! You said everything could go back to normal after you people left!"_

"_We're sorry, Kyrne, but not only is imperative that we bring you, it is also unsafe for your family to continue living here unprotected."_

_ "Mom?"_

_ "I'm so sorry, honey, I am. You have to go with them. Steve and I will be safe, don't worry about that. And you'll come right back to us when you're done with S.H.I.E.L.D. I know it's rough, sweetheart, but they wouldn't be asking if it weren't so important."_

_ "They're not _asking_, mom."_

_ The anger was rising._

_ Now whispering. _

_ "Listen to me, Steve, listen."_

_ He was sniffling, he wouldn't meet my eyes. I grabbed his chin and steered his face upwards, forcing him to make eye contact. "Listen. You're going to be alright. Do you understand that? When I leave, you go upstairs and into my room and you take whatever comic books you want. Take some cards, too, and bring them with you wherever you're going."_

_ He whimpered softly but didn't answer me. "Are you going to do that for me, Steve?" He fidgeted and more tears fell from his eyes but at least he nodded this time. "When I get back, I'm going to quiz you really hard, so you have to know all of the names, okay?" He was fidgeting more and more. He nodded then stopped and slowly shook his head._

_ "Please don't go, Kyrne.."_

_ I recoiled. I stared at him for a couple of seconds, trying to catch my composure. I wouldn't start crying in front of him. It would only make things worse. Then I grabbed up his face again. "I'll be fine, Steve, I promise. You see who I'm going with, right? I'm going with Black Widow. Remember how nice to you she was?" He looked over my shoulder and down the hallway at where the red-haired spy stood by the front door. He nodded. "She's nice to me, too. I'll be alright with her."_

_ I stood in the foyer. My mother hugged me. I didn't hug her back. She pulled away and held me by the shoulders at arm's distance. "Please, Kyrne, don't be angry with me."_

_ "Why not?" I asked. "I have every right to be angry. You lied to me. For eighteen years."_

_ She opened her mouth to say something but I shook my head and she stopped. I turned around and walked out the front door, nearly running into Agent Coulson. He looked down at me. "Have you said goodbye?" I said yes. I walked down the walkway to the street and didn't even look back to see if my mother was outside as I stepped up into the huge black car. _

_ I saw Steven standing at the front door as the car drove away. I couldn't hear him but I watched as he began to cry, then scream, and then try to run after the car. My mother held him back and I could see her whispering something to him. As we were turning the corner at the end of the block, he broke free of my mother's grasp and ran back into the house. I knew he was going to my room. He would listen._

* * *

"Kyrne?"

I opened my eyes and blinked quickly. As my vision came into focus, I took in my surroundings and remembered that I was on a plane. Agent Hill sat to my right, Romanoff to the left, and Coulson was across from me. I realized that it was Coulson who had spoken. "You alright? First time on a plane?"

"No," I said, straightening up in my seat. "Just not a plane like this one." I looked around at the military-style interior of the plane. I was strapped into my seat by an intricate system of seatbelts and I couldn't lean forward very far before the belts began to constrict. I could see the two pilots at the front of the small aircraft, sitting in the tiny cockpit. Across from me, next to Coulson, were piles of parachutes. I shuddered involuntarily. I hoped that they would land the plane and not make me leap out like in some James Bond movie. But then again, I didn't really know what to expect, did I?

"We're going to be at our destination soon," said Hill, not even bothering to look up at me. She was fiddling around on some tablet, dragging things from one side of the screen to the other and reading what seemed like an unending amount of information. She said nothing else, not offering up an explanation of _where_ exactly our destination was. When no one else said anything, I piped up.

"I.. I, uh, have a question, if that's alright?" I didn't even know if I was allowed to ask questions. What was I? A prisoner? I didn't know. Did prisoners get to ask questions? Coulson nodded at me, giving me permission. My anxiety deflated in just the very slightest amount. "If.. if S.H.I.E.L.D. is real, does that mean.. I mean, are.. other things real?"

Almost immediately after I stopped speaking, Coulson asked, "Do you believe in alternate universes?"

I shrugged. "I guess. Anything is possible at this point."

"Well, imagine an alternate universe that exists in your own, it's just been.. hidden."

"Hidden? How to hide an _entire_ universe?"

"Maybe that's an exaggeration. It's not an entirely different universe. Just some components of it. Places, people, and events have been covered up and hidden, although they occur in this world."

Agent Romanoff spoke up and I jumped a little bit because I had forgotten that she was sitting right next to me. "Do you know who Stan Lee is, Kyrne?"

"Was, you mean, right? Of course I do. That man practically gave me my childhood _and_ my teenage years. Why?"

"Well obviously you've witnessed his work."

"Yes."

"You've witnessed it in more ways than one. There are people with certain powers in this world, I guess you would call them mutants or superheroes or whatever. The point is, they exist. They've always existed, they've just been hidden for a long time. Some of them don't even have to be hidden. They do a pretty good job of keeping themselves off the grid. But as you can expect, there are sometimes.. incidents. People discover their powers and don't know how to control them. Stan understood that the world had to be slowly introduced to the idea of superhuman beings living and coexisting in society."

"That's why he wrote the comics," I said softly. "To make the idea of superheroes not such a bizarre thing."

The red-haired woman nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry, but it's still _very_ bizarre. This still doesn't explain why no one has ever known about this, though."

"Mr. Lee had other.. talents as well," continued Romanoff. "In fact, he probably had one of the most extraordinary powers I've ever seen in my life. I would even go so far as to say that he is probably the only person who has ever had it. And his control over it? Unmatched by even the most experienced."

I found myself leaning forward and straining against my seatbelts. "What was it?" I said, sounding like much more of a child than I had intended to.

"The reason that the world doesn't know about superhumans is quite simply because Mr. Lee didn't want them to. He had the ability to put up a sort of shield over whoever he wanted. He could make entire cities forget that an incident had occurred there. As long as the repairs were made in time, he could either make them completely forget or pass it off as a natural disaster of some sort. By the end of his life, there were probably millions of people under the protection of his powers. The magnitude of that is.. unimaginable. It allowed superhumans to walk about and go about their normal lives without having to live in complete fear of being discovered or hunted. We just happened to get lucky that Stan knew how imperative it was that society be protected from the knowledge of what was really out there. He knew, though, that the public would eventually have to be informed. That's what the comics were for. Some of them are based on events that actually happened and some of it really is fiction."

I couldn't do anything but stare dumbly at Romanoff. I swerved my head and looked at Coulson for some reassurance that what she had said was the truth. He nodded once and my jaw dropped. "Wait, so- so what happens now? He's gone!"

Agent Hill sighed next to me. "Obviously now that he's gone, the shield is gone too. We've just been lucky that there have been no major incidents in the past week or so. Eventually, though, there will be, and we have to be prepared for that."

"Is that why you people need me?" I asked.

"No," said Coulson. "At least not right away. We have a bit of a dire matter that needs to be taken care of and you are the key to solving it."

"What, how?"

Agent Hill sighed again, definitely sounding more impatient. "We'll explain everything when we land. It's too much information."

Agent Romanoff leaned forward and looked past me at Hill. "Right, because if you were in this situation, _you_ wouldn't have any questions."

Right as Agent Hill was about to send a retort back at Romanoff, the one of the pilot's voice came back to us. "We're going down, folks, and the wind's a little fierce, so hold on when we make contact."

There were no windows in the back of the small plane and I couldn't crane my head forward enough to see out of the front windshield. So when we touched down (very roughly, I might add), I automatically assumed that we had arrived at some super secret military base in the middle of the desert. Imagine my surprise as I walked down the ramp and looked around, expecting to see sand as far as the eye could see and instead being greeted with blue, clear sky all around. I stumbled backwards and tripped, falling. "W-what?"

Agent Coulson walked past me, heading right for a door nearby. One of the pilots took me by the arm and helped me back onto my feet, although I was still very unsteady. "Are we.. did we just land on _another_ plane?" The pilot removed his helmet and grinned.

"More like a flying fortress, ma'am."

I took another look around, although it made me incredibly dizzy. I could see small planes just like ours all around, stretching for what seemed like at least a half mile. Very close to us was a _huge_ engine, spinning and buzzing. I could see three other ones like it all around the vessel. In front of me was what looked like a regular building, except it had the porthole-style of doors to get into it, like a submarine would.

I took a tentative step forward and found that the ground was just as solid and steady as it would have been if I were on the actual earth. Agent Romanoff exited the plane, followed by Hill. "Unnerving at first, isn't it?" she asked. I couldn't do anything but nod, half for the reason that I was feeling sick to my stomach and halfway out of awe.

Agent Hill walked past, fiddling on her tablet again. "Take Kyrne to meet Captain Rogers, would you, Romanoff?" She went through the same door that Coulson had disappeared into. Romanoff waited for me to gain proper confidence and footing before showing me the door that we would be using to enter the absolutely _humongous_ vessel.

"Thanks for being patient with me, uh.." Was I supposed to call her agent? Or just her last name? Or what?

"Natasha is fine," she said, leading me across the tarmac. _Natasha. Of course_, I thought. _Is she really Black Widow_? I figured since enough bizarre things were happening today, I might as well ask her. She turned and grinned at me. "That's one of the names, yes."

_I wish I could tell Steve that he was right_, I thought, just before another thought hit me. _Wait a second. What did Hill say? Take me to meet.. Captain Rogers.. Rogers.._

"Oh my god," I said out loud, staring wide-eyed and stopping right in my tracks. Natasha turned to give me a quizzical look. "_Rogers?_ Captain Rogers? Captain Steve Rogers? Am I going to meet Captain America?"

Natasha grinned even wider before spinning back around and disappearing inside, leaving me dizzy and nauseous on the tarmac.

* * *

"Well, Cap, she's here," I heard Natasha say.

"Who, Kyrne?" My heart leaped. Captain America just said my name. _What do I say to him? Oh god.._ "How did she take the news?"

"She doesn't know anything yet. As soon as we get Fury and Coulson in here, they'll give her the full run-down of what's going on. Do you want to meet her?"

"Of course I do!"

I took a step back and away from the door where Natasha had told me to wait. I had no idea what the layout of this place was. Every single hallway looked the same as the next and all of the doors, how was I supposed to know what was behind all of them? I couldn't run even if I had wanted to. I was rooted to the spot, so nervous that I could feel the nausea creeping its way back. "Lemme warn you, Cap, she's a bit shaky. It's been a rough couple of hours for her."

The door in front of me slid open and Natasha poked her head out. "Come on in," she said softly. "It's time for you to get some answers." I walked stiffly through the door, keeping my eyes fixed on the ground. I could feel my cheeks burning red already and all of a sudden, I was painfully aware of how faded and old my jeans were. My hair was messed up and strands kept drifting in the way of my eyes, my plain gray t-shirt felt _so_ very plain, and my scuffed up flip flops were close to the point of falling apart from wear and tear. I was _not_ fit for meeting a legend but here I was, trying to keep my hands from shaking. I lifted my eyes and saw the man sitting at the table in front of me. His crystal-clear blue eyes met mine and they turned upwards in a smile. He had sandy blonde hair and when he stood up, he was _far_ taller than I thought he would be. He walked over to where I stood and held out a hand.

"Hello, Kyrne. I'm Captain Steve Rogers."

I stared at the hand for a good ten seconds before I finally raised my own and put it into his. His hand completely engulfed mine. _Christ, this guy has a strong grip_, I couldn't help thinking. _What did I expect, though?_ He stepped back and took a good look at me. He turned to Natasha. "We should really get new clothes for her. She's worn those the entire trip, hasn't she? She should be comfortable, especially for what's going to come next. Would you like a change of clothing, Kyrne?" I looked up and met his eyes again, but only momentarily.

"I-I'm alright," I said slowly. "It's not so bad, I can wait a little while longer. I'm more anxious about why I'm here, to be really honest."

"No, of course," said Captain Rogers. "I can assure you, though, you'll find out everything soon enough. I'm sorry you've been kept in the dark for so long."

"We should shed a little light, shouldn't we?" said a new voice. I spun around and saw three men standing in the doorway. One was Agent Coulson, who gave me a slight nod. Another was a nervous looking man with curly, slightly graying hair, although his face looked far too young for him to be having gray hair. I stared at him until he made eye contact with me and there was something deep inside his eyes that unnerved me greatly, to the point where I actually furrowed my eyebrows, making him look away quickly. He had his sleeves rolled up and in his hands was some kind of scanner, like one of those machines that you used to detect metal under the sand at the beach. In between Coulson and the scientist, however, was a huge, imposing man in a long black coat who made me even more nervous than the scientist did, and that was without me even meeting his eyes. Or _eye_, I should say, because when I took a quick glance at the man's face, I could see that he had an eyepatch over one eye, surrounded by hundreds of long, thin scars. The man was bald and it seemed like a permanent frown was placed upon his face. He had been the one who had spoken. "Dr. Banner, if you would be so kind as to confirm who she is?"

The scientist, Doctor Banner, came forward with the machine, holding it out towards me. I couldn't help myself. "I'm sorry, but.. Doctor Bruce Banner?" I stood perfectly still, staring at the machine as it beeped in front of me. The man nodded.

"Yes, that's me. Turn in a slow circle for me, please." I did as he asked, stunned that such a quiet man has such.. destructive potential.

"I-it's an honor to meet you, Doctor," I said, holding my arms up as he tapped them. "I'm sorry but can I ask what you're scanning me for?"

He stepped back and looked at a small screen on the handle of the machine. He turned to the man in the coat. "It's her. The rays are there, it's like she's a smaller scale version of the original."

"Thank you," said the man, stepping forward and offering me a gloved hand. "Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D." I tentatively took his hand, still unwilling to make eye contact. "We have been looking forward to meeting you, Kyrne, for a very long time. Sit down." He said the command with such authority and force that I didn't even think twice before I stepped backwards and into a seat around the huge circular table. I could see that Natasha, Captain Rogers, and Doctor Banner had all taken seats as well, facing the table. I faced in the same direction and gasped softly as a 3-D image rose up from the middle of the table and began to spin. It was a large, bright blue, glowing cube and I was mesmerized by it immediately. So much, in fact, that I almost didn't realize it when Director Fury began to speak. "This, Kyrne, is something known as the Tesseract. It is, to be simple, a source of unlimited power." Director Fury began pacing around the table. "It was taken from us by an Asgardian named Loki."

I shook my head quickly and stammered out, "Asgardian?" _Asgard is REAL?_

"Yes. This Loki has stolen the Tesseract and with it, we're afraid of what he might do."

I was confused. "So, what do _I_ have to do with this?" I asked. "I'm all new to this, sir, yesterday I didn't even know any of this could possibly exist. How am I supposed to help?"

"Doctor Banner?"

The man stood up. "You see, we don't know a whole lot about the Tesseract, it's still even a little fuzzy about where it actually came from. But right before the Tesseract was taken, it was learned that it could- well, it could _behave_. The cube had its own sentience and it began acting entirely of its own will, opening a portal through which Loki entered. We believe- I'm sorry, I really am, there's no way to say this, but- I mean, we think that the Tesseract actually _created_ you. You hold the same exact gamma rays that the Tesseract does, just on a smaller scale. We can use this to pinpoint a location on the Tesseract and get it from Loki."

I felt numb. A little cube of energy _made_ me? "N-no, no I'm sorry, this has to be a mistake. I mean, I know that's not my real mother, but I wasn't just.. created by that object. Why would it do that? And I don't have.. powers, or anything. I'm just- I mean, I'm not-" I felt like I couldn't breathe. My chest was in pain.

"It's understandable why you haven't exhibited your power before. Much of the time, powers are brought forward by a traumatic experience in which the body feels the need to defend itself. As far as we know, you've had no real trauma."

I couldn't even answer. My chest was constricting tighter and tighter and it felt like the entire room was spinning. I stood up so quickly that the chair I had been sitting in toppled to the ground. My vision was blurring and the nausea was back with a horrible vengeance. All of a sudden, I felt fine. My vision returned to normal and my legs stopped wobbling as badly. When I looked up, however, everyone, including Fury, was staring at me. No one said anything. I was immediately embarrassed for the scene that I must have caused by making the chair fall, but-

The table in front of me was gone. Not the entire table, just the chunk where I had been sitting. The piece was gone, seemingly melted away. I took a step back. "Oh god, no, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Well, then," began Captain Rogers, "it looks like you might just have to start believing, won't you?" I merely stared at him, unable to do much else. "I think she's obviously had enough, Director," he continued, standing. "I'm going to take her to her room. She needs to relax." Director Fury nodded once, and then held up a hand. Everyone froze, although Banner continued to stare at me, seemingly too awestruck to look away. I felt like a circus freak. Fury's eye widened and he shook his head.

"No good. Doctor Banner, would you please show Kyrne to her quarters? You're up, Captain Rogers. You, too, Romanoff. Loki has just been spotted in Stuttgart, Germany. It looks like it's gonna be a fight, too, because he's not even bothering to hide himself."


	4. Chapter 4

I sat with my knees up to my chest, listening to the clicking of the keyboard and the various degrees of beeping coming from all ends of the huge lab. Curled up in my corner, with an electronic tablet on my lap, I once again asked Doctor Banner what exactly Loki had done to those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to make them turn against their colleagues. Just reading the information was confusing. And besides, Banner was good conversation once he got through his nervous phase of meeting you. "He can use his spear to influence people. We have good reason to believe that it has a piece of the Tesseract or something like that which allows it to have so much power even though this power is seemingly not coming from Loki's own arsenal. Loki by himself is a powerful magician but even he couldn't have this many people under his control without feeling the stress of it."

"Why does Natasha want to free those agents so badly? I mean, she's been nice to me, but I know she's an assassin. I feel like she's definitely not doing it from the goodness of her heart. Are one of her family members-?"

"I don't even think Natasha _has_ any family members. But I don't know her very well, I only met her when she dragged me out of my hovel in India to come and serve S.H.I.E.L.D.," said Banner, rolling his eyes. "There's one agent in particular, Barton, that she's concerned about. Whether that's romantic or not, I guess we'll find out if we ever find him. For now, though, I am completely engrossed in my work. And talking to a girl who refuses to vacate my lab."

I nodded and went back to scrolling through all of the information. Now I knew why Agent Hill had been so glued to the screen of her tablet. There was _so_ much to read and this was only in order to bring me up to speed on everything that had to do with Loki and the Tesseract. I had been in the lab for hours because I couldn't sleep. I had been given some S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms to wear and thanks to the fact that I didn't look like I was twelve, I got past most of the actual agents pretty easily and stumbled onto Doctor Banner's lab. At first he had tried to get me to leave but once I had rooted myself in the corner, he merely handed me the tablet and told me to enjoy my reading. We had been talking ever since and to be honest, I didn't feel as ill at ease anymore. Everyone, and I mean _everyone_, was so wary around him. I guess I knew he had the potential to be very dangerous if he got angry but I couldn't help but think, _It can't be THAT bad, can it?_ No one had even spoken about what would happen if Doctor Banner transformed. Of course, that could have been to spare his feelings (he could have been a little sensitive about the whole issue) but they were letting him walk freely around the entire helicarrier, so I was left with the conclusion that he was not really thought of as a threat. So there I sat, chatting with the man who had the potential to crush my skull between his two pinkies.

I held up one of my hands and stared at it for so long that I began to see little blue sparkling dots weaving in and out of my fingers. If I really concentrated, I could make them shakily cluster together to form a tiny, tiny ball of light. Doctor Banner's voice pierced my concentration and the ball dissipated, along with the dots. "You're getting pretty good in a short time," he said, looking past his computer screen at me. I shrugged. I still felt like a circus freak. "Don't uh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to control it fine."

Raising an eyebrow, I said, "Control it fine? Did you _see_ that table yesterday?"

Doctor Banner shrugged. "It's alright," he murmured, staring at the screen in front of him. He looked sadly past it and at me. "Do you remember when that small plane crashed through Harlem?"

I nodded, "Yeah, it went straight through some buildings and it was all over the news."

"That hadn't been a plane. It had been me."

"And I take it the genius of Stan Lee and the interference of S.H.I.E.L.D. is what made it a plane crash?"

"You got it."

"So.."

"So I know what it's like to not know what your true potential is. I know how you're feeling right now. You don't even want to shake anyone's hand because you're afraid that it might melt their hand right away. You made a beeline for that corner before you even acknowledged that I was _in_ this lab. You wanted a safe place, first."

I was quiet for a few seconds. He was right. "Was I really just.. _made_ from that cube?" I asked, looking up.

Banner nodded. "I'm afraid you are. It's really the only reason that you're still alive and have been relatively normal. If the Tesseract had merely just put some of its power into you, you would either be dead from all of the gamma rays, or you would have ended up like me by now. A failed experiment. A human body can't stand that much gamma radiation for such a long time as eighteen whole years of their life. The only solution is that the Tesseract created _all _of you, and therefore the radiation is a normal and natural thing for your body to be in contact with. From this, I would guess that you don't get sick a whole lot."

I shrugged, turning slightly so that I could look out the huge window in back of me. "They've been gone for a really long time." They had gotten the alert from Stuttgart _hours_ and hours ago. No one had returned and there had been no word about Loki. None that they were telling Kyrne or Banner, anyway. Just as those words left her lips, Kyrne heard an alarm go off and as she craned her neck downwards, she could see a plane coming into the hangar. "Oh! Look! They're here." I hopped up from my corner, a little sore, and was about to dash right down to the hangar and find out what they had found.

"No! No, Kyrne," said Banner quickly, taking my arm as I tried to rush past. "Loki might be on that plane. You cannot come into contact with him. He will try to use you against S.H.I.E.L.D. It's for your own protection."

"Who said that, Fury?" I asked, my temper rising a little. I didn't trust that man as far as I could kick him. He had been treating everyone like they were tools, especially me. As I was being led to my room, I heard him tell everyone that it was imperative that I remained "secured". "Is it for my protection, or because he can't find the Tesseract without me?" I snatched my arm away but as I tried to walk for the door again, I froze in place. Dozens of guards were marching past the windows of the lab. "What's going on.." Then I saw his face.

At first, he looked just as perplexed as I did. He met my dark blue eyes with his bright green ones and I was absolutely shocked by how much innocence they seemed to hold. He didn't have the face of a killer. He had soft looking skin and long-ish black hair. For a few seconds, he met me with an incredibly confused look but all of a sudden, it was if the locks all clicked in place for him. A creeping smile slowly stretched its way across his face and he looked as if he had been given the best gift in the entire world. As he passed the windows of the lab and disappeared out of sight, I could hear him begin to laugh loudly, and it was both the most fascinating and terrifying thing in the entire world. I looked back at Banner, who looked as pale and shocked as I'm guessing I did. I jumped a little when I heard the lab door slide open and Natasha beckoned for us. "Come on, both of you."

We sat at a huge round table in what I could only guess was a master control room. There was a huge window at the front of it and all around, there were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents hard at work. Well, almost. There was one guy in the corner playing Galaga on his computer and to be honest, in the time that I had been watching him, he had done a fairly good job. I couldn't blame him for wanting to have a nice break from all of this seriousness and frowning. There was _so_ much frowning around here. Hard times, though, I suppose. To the side of this giant room was a raised area with our table on it. I sat around it along with Natasha, Captain Rogers, and Doctor Banner. Standing in front of the table was just about the biggest person I had ever seen in my entire life. If three of me stood on top of each other shoulders, we might just barely make this man's height. He had long, blonde hair, beautifully crafted armor, and by the side of the table lay a huge metal hammer, which I could only guess was the legendary and powerful Mjolnir. This man was not a man at all, but an Asgardian, pretty much a god walking the earth. He was Thor, and he was Loki's brother. He hadn't introduced himself to me but it was understandable. He looked deep in thought about something and I had gone with my better judgment call of not approaching him. All of a sudden, the screens on the table began to come on, and we saw Loki in a circular glass cage, with Fury at a control panel. They began to talk and I mostly blocked it out, staring wide-eyed and awe-struck at Thor. _This is happening way too much in these past two days. My jaw is going to fall off._ Then I heard Loki's laugh again.

I looked down at the screen. "I've seen her, Director," he said, in a silky and entrancing voice. "The girl. Allow me to applaud you, because she is _marvelous_. The power she could wield.. Well, you do like your hobby of collecting pretty baubles, don't you? Isn't that why you've assembled your all-star team here?"

_He means me_?

Captain Rogers put a firm hand on my shoulder and when I looked at him, his eyes were full of sympathy. I quickly looked back down at the screen and to my horror, Loki was looking straight at whatever camera was filming him. It looked like he was looking directly at me again. "I must also applaud you for even knowing about her existence. I could not find her." He let out a low laugh. "But you, you and your tip-top agents got her right away, didn't you? Why is that? Were you afraid I would harm her? I would never do that. A creature like her is not some petty trinket that you play with and toss away. No, she's much more than that. Were you afraid that I would use her? Perhaps I would. We have much in common, her and I." The transmission cut out.

"What?"

I looked around, confused. "I guess the Führer thought we'd had enough free television for the day," said a man who was standing by the doorway. I hadn't even realized that he had entered the room. He had his eyes set on me immediately. "Now then. Kyrne, is it? Tell me, would you do be a favor?" I didn't even register that he had asked me a question. He shrugged and continued. "No? Alright well hear it out first, then decide. I'm working on self-sustaining energy for my building and-"

"Mr. Stark, do you really think this is appropriate?" said Captain Rogers, keeping his protective hand on my shoulder.

"Sh-sh-sh, Captain, the offer's not for you, sorry. So, like I was saying, if you could just stand in my generators all day and provide the power, that'd be great. It seems like you're a whole heck of a lot easier to obtain than the Tesseract, so-"

"Tony!"

"Alright fine, down to business then. Tony Stark, billionaire and genius, at your service, Miss Kyrne. Careful with the Captain's hand there, though, he hasn't touched a woman in, what is it, seventy-something years?"

I couldn't help but smile. I knew who this man was. He was Tony Stark, the billionaire who now fought crime using his Iron Man suit. Although Captain Rogers was obviously put off by Stark's humor, I sort of appreciated it. Hadn't I just been thinking that this place had too many frowns? Even if Doctor Banner was good company to talk to, he sure didn't smile very much. And it seemed like Natasha and Captain Rogers pitied me more than anything else and I imagine that's why they were so nice to me. Tony Stark didn't look at me like he pitied me. He looked at me and smiled, saying, "You've got it good, Kyrne. If could be worse," he started to trail off, "you could have to look at all of these screens through one eye.. How does Fury see any of this?"

Agent Hill had apparently followed Stark up the stairs and she motioned with her head to the screens on either side of Stark. "He turns."

"Ah. How exhausting.."

He had been quiet for so long that I had forgotten Thor was even there. Finally, he turned around and walked around the table to my chair, pulling it away from the table so effortlessly that I was afraid I would sail right out of the window and plummet to my death. He spun the chair, pinned my arms to my side, and picked me up right out of my seat. I let out a little, involuntarily squeak as I flew up and I blinked quickly, trying to assess why exactly Thor was holding me up level with his own face. "You are the Tesseract?"

I spun my head around and saw Doctor Banner at the table. "Uh, Bruce? You want to explain?"

"She's not actually the Tesseract, she's a creation of it with the same potential for power as the artifact-"

"Can she think for herself?" asked Thor, no longer looking at me but at Banner.

"I can think for myself, thanks very much," I said. I concentrated everything I had into the sole of my right foot and brought it up, giving Thor a quick kick to the stomach, packed loosely and sloppily with power. It was enough, though, because he let out a sharp grunt and promptly dropped me (not put me down, dropped me). I hadn't broken his armor or even made a dent in it but I definitely caused a little pinch. The golden-haired giant of a man blinked quickly at me and then leaned down as I got back to my feet. Thor's face was almost touching mine and I gave him a scowl. "_Really_?"

"Can Loki control her?" he asked. I guessed that he wasn't speaking to me because although he was staring right into my eyes, he was once again referring to me as 'her'. I expected Doctor Banner to immediately answer 'no' to Thor, but it became very quiet in the room. I spun my face away from Thor's and blinked at the faces around the table.

"Well?" I asked. No one would meet my eyes. I found Banner's eyes and gave him a look. "_Well_?"

"Well, Kyrne.." he started off slowly. When he realized that no one else was going to say anything, he breathed a deep sigh and continued. "Well, we don't know. We have no idea what Loki is truly capable of and if he can manipulate the Tesseract, then-"

"Then he might be able to do the same to her," finished Thor, still staring right at me. I had to be the one to take a step back.

"Why didn't anyone tell me sooner?" I asked angrily. My hands were beginning to tingle with sloppy power. Bruce wouldn't meet my eyes. "Banner!" He looked up. "I was in that lab _all_ day, you couldn't say something?"

"I was told to keep it quiet," he said.

I grunted and turned, walking right out of the room before anyone could stop me. As I turned the corner to make an attempt to find my room, I heard Thor ask, "Should we be letting her out of our sight?" I didn't stick around long enough to hear anyone answer him.

* * *

I figured that I had to find a new place to hide now that Doctor Banner apparently couldn't be trusted. I picked a nice spot up by the hangar, close to the front of the line of planes. There was no one really around at the moment, so I sat down in a dark corner, a little flashlight and a backpack in my hand. Before I had left home, Coulson had given me a few minutes to gather some things. Since he said I wouldn't need any clothing, I snatched up the closest comics that I could find and stuffed them in my bag. Now I sat down in my corner and opened the bag. Much to my surprise, the cartooned face of Captain America was smiling up at me, shield out and ready to fly. I groaned. He was just like the others. Cautious around me and probably afraid. Was he like Thor? Did he even think of me as a person, or was I just a tool being manipulated by Fury and this 'team'? I had such high hopes, too. Imagine being friends with Captain America, _the_ Captain America. Nope, instead I'm a well-treated prisoner in the presence of Captain America.

These thoughts ran through my mind and I ended up sighing and opening the comic book anyway. _What else is there to do_, I thought. About halfway through, I heard echoing footsteps coming to my secluded spot. I immediately switched off the tiny flashlight and shrunk backwards into the corner, the darkness from my S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform hopefully helping me blend into the shadows. The footsteps continued toward me, however, and I began to panic a bit. I wasn't sure if I would be in trouble for being down here and worse, unsupervised. At this point, though, there was nowhere to run to without being seen and even if I did run, the person would probably hear me before they saw me. I couldn't even clean up my comics quickly enough to run away and I'm sure they would figure out pretty easily that it had been me holed up in the hangar. So I continued trying to shrink backwards and into the wall, covering as many of the bright comic colors with my arms as possible. It seems like it wasn't enough, though, because in a few seconds, I saw a head peek around the plane that I was hiding behind. "Kyrne?" a voice said.

_Of course he found me,_ I thought, _he must have great hearing_. He squeezed in between the wing of the plane and the wall, crouching down in my little nook. "Can I sit here?" he asked. I shrugged. I was going to simply go back to reading my comic, but wouldn't you know it, his face was plastered all over that, too. I kept reading, though, only because I didn't want to look like a fool now. After a few minutes of examining the nice little setup that I had going on, he coughed softly, which irritated me to no end for some reason.

"Can I help you with something there, Cap?"

"I was just wondering where you had disappeared to. We were all getting worried."

"Why, afraid I'm going to try to down the fortress? Don't worry, I'm not strong enough for that yet, even if I wanted to."

He frowned, shaking his head. "Kyrne, that's not why we were worried. I wanted to make sure nothing had happened to you."

I shrugged again, not entirely sure that I believed him. He grew quiet again and even reached for one of my comics, I think it was an X-Men. In the silence that echoed through the hangar, I began to think. What if these people really were concerned for my well-being? Steve Rogers did not seem like the type of person to use another human being for his own personal gain or even the gain of the team. He wouldn't be the one to sacrifice me. And despite Natasha Romanoff's reputation for being a ruthless assassin, she had proven to be nothing but friendly and pleasant to me since I had been thrown into this entire situation. Of course, this could be an act (she was probably very good at that, for the whole job, you know), but I couldn't help but feel that it _might_ just be genuine. I knew she could feel. It sure seemed like the felt for that captured agent, Barton. I peeked over the top of my Captain America comic and looked at the man himself. I sighed.

"So.. do you have any siblings?" I asked, putting down the comic book.

Captain Rogers shook his head. "No. I had a really good friend, though, he was just like an older brother. Took really good care of me when I was still just that small kid from Brooklyn."

"Oh." I probably shouldn't have brought that up. He was talking about Bucky. I knew what had happened to Bucky and it wasn't a particularly happy story.

"What about you?" he asked. "You have a little brother, don't you?"

I actually smiled. "Yeah. His name is Steve, actually, just like you."

Rogers could see that this had a positive reaction with me. "What's he like?" he asked.

"He's a really good kid," I said, smiling even more. "He doesn't get into trouble, he always does what he's asked, and he gets absolutely beautiful grades. With my help, of course." Then I looked down and frowned a little bit. "He gets knocked around a lot, though, by the other kids. He's the smallest one for his age, I guess. That's why I don't get mad when he gets into my comics," I continued. "I want him to see where these heroes come from, and how they were brave.."

"Were you brave when S.H.I.E.L.D. came for you?"

I flinched a little bit and stared at Rogers. "Well, of course I was. I had to be. He was watching. I couldn't let him see me being dragged off in a fit. I had to make sure he was safe." Captain Rogers smiled.

"Then he'll be fine. If he sees you being brave, then he'll do the same. He looks up to you a lot, doesn't he?" I shrugged again, now embarrassed. I was being complimented by Captain America. We sat there for a really long time, not that I could judge time really well due to the lack of windows in the hangar. We decided it was time to leave, though, when S.H.I.E.L.D. workers began milling about more frequently through the hangar. It was getting busy. As we went our separate ways, however, I decided that as long as I was being brave for the sake of my little brother, I might as well be brave for myself, too. It was time to look at a recent fear in the eye and get some answers.


	5. Chapter 5

I looked both ways before entering the huge room and did a double-take to _really_ make sure that no one was slinking around in the shadows. After a few minutes of crouching down in the doorway and listening closely for the tell-tale sound of boots hitting the metal grating floor, I decided it was safe. I kept close to the ground and turned the corner to enter the room, catching my first glimpse of the huge cylinder which was Loki's comfortable arrangements. The glass didn't look all that thick but I suppose it had to be, if S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't feel the need to even post guards. As I stuck my head into the round room, I saw a control panel on the other side of the room, with a glass case over a large red button. _Well, that's certainly not conspicuous, _I thought, rolling my eyes. They might as well put a sign on the damned thing that said, "Hey! If you push me, something really, really bad will happen!" Maybe there really wasn't a difference between the comic books and real life.

From where I was, I couldn't see anyone inside of the glass prison. I paused just as I was about to put my foot onto the metal and slipped off the S.H.I.E.L.D. standard issue boots that had come with my borrowed uniform. When I put my bare foot on the grate, however, it still made a slight creaking noise, so I had to settle for moving as painstakingly slow as I possibly could without arriving on the other side of the room by tomorrow morning. I had thought myself to be very clever. I had done everything right. I had checked, double-checked, _triple-checked_ to make sure there were no guards, I had made sure that I would be as close to silent as possible when moving, and I had taken account of my surroundings before even making the slightest move! So imagine my surprised when a silken voice rang out, "Now, you'll have to do better than that."

There was an echo in the room, so I couldn't tell exactly where the voice was coming from but I had a pretty good guess. I stood up straight and frowned, disappointed in my poor sneaking skills. As I rounded the corner onto the side of the cylinder where the beams weren't blocking my view, I discovered that my hunch about the source of the voice had been correct. I was rooted in place for a moment as my eyes were met immediately with bright, laughing green ones. He stood in the very center of the cylinder, arms to his side and his head tilted a bit to the right, fixing me with an inquiring stare. "Well? You're not going to tell me your name?"

I shook my head as I regained composure of myself and began to move around the side of the case again. "No," I said quietly. Not wanting to seem weak, I spoke a little louder. "Why would I tell you my name?"

Loki smiled then and crossed his arms across his chest. "Then why would you come, child, unless you wanted to become better acquainted with me?" I came to a stop in front of the ominous-looking control panel with its shiny red button. Loki motioned to a chair that was set up a little bit in front of the control panel and directly in front of his glass room. Against my better judgment, I sat down.

"I want answers," I said, trying as hard as I could to sound confident.

"Oh, I know. You must be dying for the truth. What have these fine officials told you? That you're a special girl, I'm sure. Did they give you a biscuit after that and send you on your pretty way? I wonder if they've begun your training yet."

It was then that I realized that he was mocking me. He thought me to be S.H.I.E.L.D.'s pet, controlled by them. I stood up and spun around, walking directly to the control panel. I flipped up the glass lid and raised my hand, letting it hover the red button. "Are you going to continue with the attitude or can we talk?" Loki must have known what the button did because his smile was wiped off of his face and he raised his chin, sizing me up.

"Now, how do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. will react to you destroying their one chance at saving the world? Without me, they'll never find out where the Tesseract is, will they? Believe me, after _that _they won't tolerate you like they do now."

I was stuck. Loki had to know what I was. If I said that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be able to find the Tesseract without him, I would be confirming his suspicions and who knows what sort of position that would put me in. If I agreed with him, I would be giving him power. My hand stayed hovering over the button. "I thought I was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s lackey? Now they just tolerate me?" Loki's smile returned and he motioned to the chair again.

"Stop playing these games and tell me your name, at the very least. I do not have time for this and I suspect, neither do you."

Slowly, very slowly, I replaced the glass cover on top of the button and slipped back into the seat in front of the huge glass wall. "My name is Kyrne," I said, forcing myself to look up and into Loki's eyes. It was truly an unnerving experience but I couldn't let him smell fear on me by looking anywhere but at him. Loki clapped once and then sad down on a white bench set into the wall of his cell, looking pleased.

"Oh, very good! Very good, indeed. Kyrne. What an exotic name. It certainly doesn't sound like a name that these foolish Midgardian whelps give to their pups. So where are you from?"

"I _am_ from Earth," I said. I was beginning to get even more nervous. My hands were shaking slightly, but I was grasping them to each other so tightly that I don't think Loki noticed. _What if he asks me what my power is_? I asked myself. _Then what?_ I would have to make something up, something that wouldn't seem completely unbelievable.

"From Earth," repeated Loki. His bright eyes narrowed a little bit and he fixed me with a playfully accusing look. He leaned forward in his seat a bit and the shining overhead lights glinted off of the gold cuffs in his emerald coat. "What's your power, dear Kyrne? Why are you such a protected secret? I must admit, I had to give Nick Fury a clap on the back for keeping a secret from _me_. I wonder how they did it. I also wonder why you're so valuable to them that they feared me knowing about your existence."

I stood up, making it look like I was about to leave. "I didn't come here to give you information. If you're going to continue this game, I'm going to leave."

For a few seconds, Loki sat silent. I thought this was an admission of indifference, so my chest burned as I began to turn to walk away. _You need these answers!_ I shouted at myself. _Don't walk away! DON'T WALK AWAY!_ But just as I was nearly spun around, I saw Loki fly up out of his seat and come towards the glass with a shocking amount of speed. My heart went cold and I turned back around as quickly as I could, realizing my mistake at the same time. _No!_ It was too late, though. Loki stopped just short of the glass and a wicked, satisfied smile was spread wide across his face. My hand was up and also just about to hit the glass, straight like I was about to chop through the glass. The blue, swirling energy came from my fingertips to make a very sloppy, morphed-looking blade, but it was a blade nonetheless. _You idiot! They wouldn't hold him in here if he could just jump at the glass and get out!_ The energy in my hand eventually became too choppy and dissipated, leaving me looking wide-eyed and afraid, with a useless hand up to defend myself from a threat that was never real.

Loki placed a hand upon the glass and lowered his head down to look at me. "Did you think I was an idiot? I know what you are. I knew the moment I laid eyes on you, you practically radiate the energy of the Tesseract. To the trained eye, of course. My fool brother would have had no idea if S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't told him." As he spoke, I let my hand fall to my side and took a tentative step backwards, away from the glass. "I will applaud you, though, you tried very hard to seem fearless. Don't look so afraid, though, Kyrne. You and I are very much alike. You've been lied to as much as I have. S.H.I.E.L.D. will want you to hate me." I took another step back. A cold, icy fear was growing in the pit of my stomach and working its way up into my chest, like nothing I had ever felt before. Another step. My foot grazed the side of the railing around the glass prison and I grabbed at the top rail to steady myself. Another step. The fear was growing more and more, my arms were beginning to feel numb and my feet were unsteady. "Yes, you and I are very alike," he repeated. He was doing something to me, he had to be doing something to me. Loki was getting a crazed look in his eyes and he was breathing heavily, his fist pressed tightly to the glass. "Your new friends will want you to hate me," he said, his black hair falling into his eyes, which gleamed brightly, "but ask yourself, can you?"

I turned and ran as quickly as I could from the room, not even caring which door I used. I didn't check for guards, I didn't listen for footsteps and I sure as hell didn't care if a security camera saw me. As I fled, I heard Loki shout one more thing at me, his voice cracking very slightly as if the insanity that he had was seeping into his very physicality. "DON'T LOOK AT ME AS THE MONSTER! YOUR DARLING FRIENDS HAVE ALREADY SEEN TO THEIR OWN DEMISE BY BRINGING ANOTHER ONE!" As the doors slid shut behind me, I turned quickly down the next hallway, suddenly remembering that I had never retrieved my boots from Loki's room. I slid and fell as I turned the corner but didn't even miss a beat, scrambling back onto my feet and continuing my blind, mad dash. I didn't care where I was going, as long as I knew that I was getting away from Loki. The more distance I put between myself and the prison, the better I felt. When I finally began to slow my pace to catch my breath, I heard voices from up ahead. They didn't sound very happy.

I sat myself down in a corner of the hallway and took a deep breath, finally able to relax just a little bit. I was far enough from Loki physically, but his words still echoed through my head. After a few minutes, I got up, dusted myself off, and poked my head into a wider hallway, trying to find out where I was in relation to my own room. I blinked quickly as I turned my head to the left, realizing that I was just across from Banner's lab. That must have been where the voices were coming from. Listening closely, I could hear that there were still people arguing in there. _That's a good environment for an unstable destruction machine_, I thought,_ a tight room with shouting people_. I limped up to the door of the lab and slid it open, my feet infinitely sore from running all over the helicarrier with these stupid, bare feet. When I entered the lab, I saw that the party had already gotten started without me.

The first thing I noticed was Captain Rogers standing in the middle of the room, hoisting up what looked to be a long-barreled gun with broken circuitry at the end of it, where a handle would be. It looked old, the parts rusted and falling away. Tony Stark was standing by one of the touch-screen computers. I could see paragraphs upon paragraphs of information being scrolled through and it was much too much for my eyes to keep up with, although Stark seemed to have no problem doing it. Doctor Banner was standing over a long table with a gold spear on it. In the middle of the spear was a small, blue gem which glowed faintly. At first, the shine hurt my eyes, but I found after a few seconds that it was very tough to look away from the pretty blue trinket. I eventually did, though, and turned my head to see Agent Romanoff and Thor standing on the other side of the room, arms crossed and stern looks on their faces. I hadn't seen Director Fury to my right until he spoke up. "What- Where is your escort?" he said, looking out into the hallway to see if any agents were following me. At that time, everyone else in the room noticed me and turned their heads.

"I snuck past them," I replied, simply too exhausted and sore to make up some lie.

"What's the problem with that, Nick?" asked Stark, not even taking his eyes off of the screen. "You said everything was full disclosure. Why can't she walk around without an escort? She's an adult."

When Fury didn't answer, I decided to ask some questions of my own. I pointed to the weapon hoisted over Cap's shoulder. "What's that?" I asked.

He threw it onto the table in front of him, making a loud crashing noise. "Apparently, it's a secret that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been keeping 'for our own good'. They're making nuclear weapons using the power of the Tesseract."

Thor grunted from his corner. "Because of my appearance."

Stark shrugged. "Right. Because of him."

_Then_ Fury has something to say. He began to get on Stark's case about him not knowing the full story, while Banner, Romanoff, and Thor got into an argument about who was the biggest liability on the helicarrier. Once or twice, I saw Thor's eyes flick my way. It's a bad day when a Norse god decides that he doesn't trust you. Romanoff's face grew angry and she said, "Leave _her_ alone, she has nothing to do with this."

Captain Rogers began arguing with both Fury _and_ Stark, pointing out that neither of them were saints. Fury rose his voice but at that point, I wasn't even paying attention to what they were saying anymore. My eyes were fixed completely on the gold spear with the blue gem. Maybe it was just the light playing tricks on me or maybe it was my own mind, but it seemed that the gem was glowing brighter and brighter with every step that I took towards it. The spear must have been Loki's because it hadn't been present in the lab when I had been sulking around it. That gem really _was_ pretty. The brighter it got, the more attracted to it I was. Finally, I arrived at the table and looked down at the weapon, which, to be honest, looked like it wouldn't hurt that much. I could see my reflection in the shiny golden surface of the spear. My dark hair looked absolutely wild, strands falling into my eyes. I guess I hadn't thought to fix it in a few days. My normally-blue eyes seemed even bluer, even glowing with the same energy that the gem was glowing with. I reached my hand up and out towards the spear, the energy radiating off it and making a humming sensation on the palm of my hand. I knew the others were still arguing behind me and truthfully, I could barely hear it. Their voices were replaced by blissful nothingness, peaceful silence. Just as my hand was about to lightly brush the surface of the spear, the first explosion rocked the helicarrier, and I was thrown backwards and away from the bliss.

I flew through the window at the front of Banner's lab, smacking into the wall of the hallway and sliding to the floor. My entire world was spinning. I didn't feel any pain in my body yet but I was so dizzy and disoriented that I couldn't even lift my head from the floor. I could hear people shouting and running but it sounded muffled, as if someone had stuffed cloth into my ears. I did what I thought was a motion to lift myself from the floor but apparently I was just flailing my arms to my sides, against the wall. It was then that the soreness began to spread through my body and I could feel the stinging from the glass that had embedded itself into my skin. I tried again and again to get off of the floor but over time, the pain became too great and I stopped trying. I shut my eyes and let my face fall back to the ground, littered with glass and dust as it was.

I heard a very loud thump near my ear and when I opened one eye, I saw Thor's bright blue eyes looking down at me. Thor didn't trust me. Thor didn't like me. He may have been dedicated to protecting the humans but as far as he was concerned, I wasn't human. _Is he going to kill me now_? I asked myself, trying as best as I could to meet his eyes. They were nearly the same blue that mine were. I saw him reach a hand out towards me but my vision was beginning to get blurry again and I was so tired. I shut my eyes. I felt him lift me up and heft me over one shoulder, not bothering being gentle. He brushed some glass from my legs and spun, running loudly and heavily down the hallway. At this point, I think I meant to ask, "What are you doing?" but it instead came out as some sad moan. I closed my eyes again and let myself recover a little bit before getting back the use of my tongue and managing to form a sloppy, "What.. are.."

He seemed to get my drift before I could form the whole sentence because he growled out, "I don't know," and smashed open the door into the main control room of the helicarrier, with its huge windows and wide open space. I managed to lift my head up and look around. I saw people in all black toting weapons and shooting at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and the agents returned fire. I could have sworn that I saw a man with a bow and arrow sniping agents from one of the rooms above but I was still so woozy and tired that I couldn't be sure. We exited the main room from a door on the opposite side of the room and as Thor dashed down a dark side hallway, we heard the roar.

It seemed to be coming from somewhere beneath us and it made the floor underneath Thor's feet rattle. It echoed through the empty hallway and filled my ears so violently that I shoved my face against the back of Thor's breastplate just to try to drown it out. I much preferred the cold harshness of the metal. At the same time, though, I felt a different type of cold. The kind of cold fear that literally flows through your entire body and makes your heart race and your hands sweat. The kind of cold fear that makes you begin to breathe heavily and blink rapidly, although you know there's nothing you can do. Because I had heard that roar before and in real life, it was even more terrifying than it was in the video recordings.

"Bruce.." I gurgled out, my weak hands gripping stupidly at Thor's shoulders as I tried to heft myself up.

"No," he murmured. "Not Bruce."


End file.
